DIY Garden Mint Body Scrub

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Hey hey, chummies!

I've got something a bit different for you today. I felt like my blog was getting a little review-heavy if you will, and while that is the main reason that I started writing on this little corner of the internets, I felt like spicing it up and throwing this in, because really why not?

Because mint is naturally cool and refreshing, this is a great scrub to use on dull and tired skin that requires extra exfoliation (though it is not ideal for the face!).

So if you are as big of a fan of DIY projects as I am (or even if you're not), I think you'll find this recipe pretty exciting and very easy to follow, and the ingredients (hopefully) readily available. This recipe will work well for those of you who might have an overgrown mint crop in your garden. And if you have no mint in your garden, or no garden at all, then fear not! You should be able to find fresh mint in the produce area of your local grocery store where the fun, misty sprinklers are!

1. Set out your ingredients!
Go clip your mint plant with a pair of scissors or garden shears, or whip it out of the grocery bag. Don't be shy with what you snip; mint is resilient and doesn't mind being trimmed back. Also, you can just chuck the whole clipping, stem, leaves and all, into the mixture if you'd like, so don't go peeling the leaves off! Unless that's what you're into..

2. Chop the mint.
I would recommend hand chopping, even though I realize this is more time consuming than say, using a blender or food processor. I used a blender and, attempting to aid in the process, added too much water to the mint to help it chop up better, so I had to add even more salt in order to balance out the excess water. The measurements in this recipe are all approximate, so just make sure the liquid does not overpower the salt in the final mixture, and vice versa.

3. Once the mint is finely chopped, combine with salt and oil(s) in a medium bowl.

4. Because I used spearmint, it didn't give the right scent that I was looking for, so I used 2/3 cup of regular sea salt, and 1/3 cup of scented bath salts. This gave me a very strongly scented mixture, but if you don't feel like adding bath salts into the picture (especially if you have sensitive skin!), it is just as easy to add a few drops of essential oil to the mix (peppermint oil would work beautifully, and I'm sure lavender essential oil would be gorgeous as well!).

Please note, I did not use ALL of that lurvely purple bath salt in my final mixture!

5. Chuck the finished mixture into a container of your choice, and even label it if you're feeling nifty! Store in refrigerator, and if using vitamin E, this should keep for a few weeks (mine has lasted nicely, and it's been over a week now). Also, make sure that anyone you live with knows this is NOT EDIBLE! My dad thought it was guacamole, which was almost a fiasco.

When using, it is ideal to apply this whilst sitting on the edge of the tub because it is a tiny bit messy. I find after using this that my skin is much smoother, softer, and tons more moisturized!

If using spearmint, realize that even though the scrub might not smell very minty, you will still reap the benefits of applying fresh mint to your skin. Mint is known for its refreshing qualities, so this scrub is aimed at waking up tired skin. It is ideal for use on the feet, elbows, and hands, but I have used it on the rest of my body with solid results. I would not advise using this on the face, simply because salt scrubs can be pretty harsh and may irritate the more sensitive facial skin.

And that's it! These ingredients are relatively inexpensive (the most expensive for me was the almond oil at around $4.50, but most people will probably at least have olive oil in their cupboards), so why not try it out? The colder months are creeping up, and skin gets drier and duller then anyway! Let me know if you try your hand at this scrub, and if you have any success or comments? What are your favorite scrubs, DIY or otherwise? I wish you all the best of luck, and I hope you find this moisturizing and most of all, fun!

Laters!

Amelia xx

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* Extra notes:

1. Peppermint would work best for this scrub since it is very pungent, but spearmint works as well (it's what I used). If using spearmint, you may feel the need to add extra scents to the scrub.

2. I don't recommend using the huge sea salt crystals, the smaller ones will work just fine, and if you feel like even less exfoliation, you could even try table salt or sugar instead. Also note that 1 cup of salt is quite a large amount! I've found that one normal size salt shaker only contains 1/3 cup of salt, so you may opt for sugar or table salt just for convenience's sake.

3. Olive oil has a longer shelf life than almond oil, so keep that in mind in terms of longevity of the final product. I added a few drops of vitamin E oil to act a preservative and to make my scrub a bit more moisturizing.